


Song of Decay, Era of Doom

by Lunaraie



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22425958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunaraie/pseuds/Lunaraie
Summary: An Alternate Universe Story Based After the Events of Stormblood.
Relationships: Valeria Frostblood / Noire Frostblood, WoL / Zenos
Kudos: 4





	1. Fall of Yanxia

It didn't take long for the news to reach us that the Warrior of Light had surrendered at Ghimlyt Dark, we couldn't believe our eyes when we read the letter we received. Her friend, her ally in the hands of the filthy Garleans. She stood around the table with Hien, Yugiri, Noire, Cid and Nero. 

"It should take them at least a week to break through our defences at Kugane." Hien said, reading through the notes he had. "And then a few weeks after that to breach our borders and get into Yanxia properly." Hien continued proceeding to look at all of them. Valeria was distracted, a lot on her mind. Noire nudged her on the shoulder and she quickly came back. "Oh yes, sorry. I was distracted. According to the reports we got, they will be bringing magitek vanguards with them. The barriers in the Doman Enclave should be strong enough to hold them off." Nero nodded and spoke up, "But there are very prominent weakpoints in the ones we're using. That's the flaw with the models they had installed around Doma Castle. Me and Cid have done the best we can to prevent them from falling when they're put up. Not even Zenos himself could take down the barrier, we've made sure of that." He said, a smirk appearing on his face. Noire spoke up, "All of the shinobi are ready. Me and Yugiri have been working hard to train them, while my love here has been training her Samurai up for battle." The others smiled and Hien proceeded to look around at all of them. Knowing that he is lucky to have such a team helping to protect his homeland. "With you all here, there's no way we'll lose to the Garleans! We might even start to push them back if they can't capture Kugane." He said a wide grin on his face. 

Yugiri looked around with a concerned look on her face, Hien looked at her, "Yugiri?" He said, prompting her to speak up.  
"We haven't heard much about what's happened to the Warrior of Light apart from the fact that she's still alive. If the Garleans have difficulty capturing Kugane, we stand a chance against them." When she uttered these words, a soldier knocked on the door and was permitted to enter. "Lord Hien. I bring news. The Garleans have made their move, they're on their way to Kugane as we speak." Just these words alone sent a shiver down everyones spine but they simply nodded, "Thank you, dismissed." Hien said as the soldier saluted and quickly showed himself out. Hien proceeded to look at everyone there, bowing his head and then raising it with a look of worry. "Even though I have doubts that we'll lose, it's been an honour serving with all of you. And I'm glad we could have an officer who worked alongside the Warrior of Light with us. Dismissed, return to your rooms and get some rest. It's going to be a long war." He smiled, sitting up from the chair and heading towards the door.

Valeria and Noire had managed to get their own private room, it took a lot of convincing when they first arrived but they managed it. Valeria just lays on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I never thought we'd be the last stand for hope." Valeria said as Noire layed down next to her after getting into her night robes. Valeria moved herself to cuddle against her soon-to-be-wife. The viera proceeding to stroke Valeria's hair. "I love you, Noire. I-I'm so happy to be able to have you as my wife." She smiled, nuzzling her head into her, Noire smiled and kissed her cheek as she pulled her up closer. "And I'm glad to have you by my side forever." She yawned, holding Valeria close. She falls asleep cuddling her. During the night, the Garleans push up and get closer to Kugane. A mysterious hooded warrior standing at the side of Zenos yae Galvus, his arm around the warriors waist. Even though the Resistance was prepared, the soldiers stationed at Kugane were either slaughtered, captured or managed to escape once the hooded warrior started to slice through the enemies that stood in their way. As they cut through the warriors, they made their way around Kugane, securing every nook and cranny. 

As the sun rose, it didn't take long for the news to spread, multiple of the Resistance forces had fallen back to the Yanxia border, a messenger sent to the Doman Enclave to inform the leaders. Valeria and Noire hadn't been awake for too long when they had a knock at their door, "Enter." Valeria said, looking up from combing Noire's hair. "Lord Hien is requesting you immediately. He's waiting in the meeting room." The soldier said, Valeria nodded, "Thank you, we'll head there shortly." The soldier saluted and left the room, Valeria looked at Noire as she finished combing her hair. "He wouldn't call us there urgently like that if there wasn't an issue, we should make hace." Noire stood up and both her and Valeria made their way to the meeting room, once they entered everyone had gathered. Even Nero and Cid were there. "Ah, Valeria, Noire. Come quickly. This soldier has urgent and disturbing news." Lord Hien said as he looked at the soldier stood next to Hien on the other end of the table. "Thank you Lord Hien. I regret to inform all of you that Kugane has fallen. It took some time for me to get here." As he uttered those words, the chamber fell silent, no one wanted to believe the words, not after the estimated time of a week that they thought it would take.

"H-How?" Were the only words muttered from Valeria as she stared over at the soldier. He started to shake a little bit then proceeded to answer her, "They had an extremely strong mysterious warrior with them. We didn't know who because the warrior was wearing a hood. But with that warrior they broke through our defensive lines easily." Another shock to all of them, how within such a short time could they come up with a warrior this powerful? This is the thought that probably went through all of their heads, as the soldier continued. "As we speak, they're moving up to the border of Yanxia. Our injured are being brought here, but with the way they're advancing sir, I'd give us a day or so." The soldier said looking towards Lord Hien, the atmosphere in there got worse as they were told this. Valeria turned to Cid and Nero, "Is the magitek barrier fully operational and will we have enough time to put it up before they get here?" She asked, Nero and Cid nodded. "Yes, of course." Nero said. Hien took to his normal posture of thought, and then leaned forward on the table. "All of these events are unexpected, but we are prepared for this. Our esitmations are now incorrect." He looked towards Valeria, "Are your Samurai ready?" Valeria let off a weak smile and nodded, "Yes, Lord Hien. They're ready." He then turned to Yugiri, "What about your Shinobi?" Yugiri nodded as well, feeling her heart in her stomach. "They're ready." After Yugiri said that, Lord Hien stood up. "This is it everyone. I have hope, we all do." he said. "Dismissed." We all headed out, Valeria was holding close to Noire, "I wasn't expecting this." she exclaimed. "None of us were, my love. By the urgency of what it sounds like, it seems they'll be here sooner than expected." As she said that, they saw the last of the reinforcements arrive as the magitek barrier was raised shortly after, the humming of the barrier all around them. Valeria went to speak to her Samurai soldiers, informing them of the news. There were some that were nervous but they believed in the cause.

Valeria re-met up with Noire after meeting with their soldiers, she stared up at the activated magitek barrier, the humming going through her bones. She turns to Noire, "Whatever happens, I want you to stay behind and take care of the forces." She looked up at her. Noire shook her head, "My love, I won't let them take you or strike you down. Not after you proposed to me, you promised me." She looked down at Valeria a stern look on her face, Valeria sighed. "Lets get to it then."

Another day had passed, the alarms sounded, Valeria and Noire stood on the walls, being protected by the magitek barrier as she saw magitek vanguards striking at the shield not making any progress on collapsing the barrier. Cheering can be heard, this goes on for another few minutes until suddenly a large flash of light can be seen, one can be seen coming from Zenos yae Galvus and another from the hooded figure. And after the cast finished, they witnessed the barrier fall within seconds. Valeria and Noire jumped down, Noire went to meet up with Yugiri and the Shinobi as Valeria started fighting alongside her Samurai. Valeria proceeded to slice down each of the soldiers that crossed her path swinging her katana in a perfect formation, managing to take down two soldiers at once. She flips over one of them and stabs them in the back, one of them rush towards her coming up behind her but the soldier dies with a dagger in his back. Noire winks at her and goes back to taking out the forces on their sidelines to protect their flank. 

Not long after some of their forces had been wiped out, Zenos yae Galvus appeared his katana drawn. He sets his eyes on the most dangerous of the targets. Valeria faces him and proceeds to hold her katana out pointing at him, "Zenos, your reign of tyranny ends tonight." She said, a stern look on her face. "You will NOT get past me!" Zenos formed a smirk on his face, laughing. "I know you... You're the one and only Valeria Frostblood!" He said. "I've heard a lot about your training, and your studying of the blade." He smirked, not moving at all. Valeria straightened her pose as the fighting went on around them, "Once you're defeated, we'll make our way to the capital and save Aria!" Valeria shouted, beginning to use Hissastsu: Gyoten to rush at him, what she didn't expect was that she'd be thrown backwards as he swung his katana at her with more strength than she had. 

As she was thrown backwards, she stabbed her katana into the ground hoping to slow her pace. She began panting as the impact of the hit and the landing which knocked her into one of the buildings, after landing she let go of her katana for a moment and collapsed down onto the flat earth. Out of no where, Zenos was rushed at by Hien his strikes as accurate as Zenos had heard. "Ah, Hien. The rumors of your skills don't lie." He smirked, enjoying himself. "Excellent." Hien slipped up on one of his strikes and Zenos took this chance to grab him and throws him over to the side. Valeria slowly leaned up, grasping her katana again. She pulled herself up to stand on two feet, she rushed again at Zenos but this time the mysterious hooded warrior intercepts her attack, their katanas clanging against each other. She leaps back a bit, making some space between them. Once she's read, she rushes again this time slicing with **Gekko**, the hooded warrior dodges the attack but it forces her hood to come flying down, as Valeria notices the warriors face she almost loses her balance and quickly leans on her katana to gain balance.

"A-A-Aria?" She said, her eyes wide. She couldn't believe who she was fighting, she /DIDN'T/ want to believe that Aria would switch sides. Before she could come back to her senses, Aria had rushed towards her, she quickly raised her blade and blocked. Aria stared straight into her, she stared back seeing nothingness in her eyes. The void was all she could see, she knew this wasn't Aria. It was her body but it wasn't her in the right mind. "Aria, break free of it! I know you're in there!" No response, instead Aria kept on throwing strikes at her, each time Valeria used one of her techniques Aria countered straight away. She has never seen Aria this good with a katana, did Zenos train her up before they came here? She wondered. As each strike hit, Valeria tried talking to Aria again, "Do you not remember me? The mi'qote you saved!" Still nothing, she decided it's time to end this. She jumped back, holding her katana up in the air she called upon Alastor who enfused her katana with his strength, the floor started to shake as a gust of wind formed around her. "This is for your own good, Aria... I'm sorry." As the cast is done, she shouts, **DOOM OF THE LIVING** and rushes immediately at her but her katana only touches air as she notices that Aria had dodged out of the way. Before she could do anything she felt a sharp slash come up her back, she fell to her knees holding onto the katana. 

She kneels there coughing out a lot of blood, Aria still remains behind her. Her arms refusing to respond to the commands, Zenos raised an eyebrow and looked over at his beast. "She's weak now," He said smirking, "Kill her my beast!" Aria tried to follow his command but the true Aria in her mind was refusing to allow the body to kill her friend, maybe for multiple reasons. Aria's hands came up to her face and she started screaming out in pain, she collapsed to her knees as well. 

Zenos sighed, drawing his katana again. If you want something done, do it yourself. He rushes towards Valeria but before he could get the killing blow off on her, two figures appeared out of no where. One easily recognizable as Estinien the Azure Dragoon, and an officer of the Free Company she's in, Dernar.. Dernar picked Valeria up, throwing her onto his shoulder while Estinien blocks Zenos's incoming attack. "I've got her, lets get out of here!" Dernar said, quickly following onto the roof.

Estinien follows behind quickly, once they're a fair distance away, Dernar remembers something. "I'm going to send a linkpearl to her fiancee, Noire." He said, beginning to send one, "Noire, meet us at Mor Dhona. We've got Valeria and... She doesn't look too good." A shiver went down Noire's spine, she started to panic a little bit. "W-What? I'll meet you there!" She said, cutting the link and then quickly making her way there. As she made her way there, tears fell from her thinking about Valeria, the love of her life. She didn't want to think negatively for too long, it'd distract her if she did.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	2. Recovery Takes Time

Estinien and Dernar arrive at Revenants Toll first, quickly making their way the Rising Stones to take Valeria to the Scions there, hoping they can help in her recovery, no, knowing they will help in Valeria's recovery. When the walked in, they were greeted by Krile. None of the scions in there expected to see who they saw hanging over Dernar's shoulder, Aria's Free Company officer and Samurai Tutor, Valeria Frostblood, none responsive, Krile quickly led them to free bed where they could put her down. Tataru couldn't believe her eyes either, she had known Valeria quite well and knew she was a strong warrior, only a terrible event could've occured for her to be in the condition she is. Krile begins examining Valeria, doing what she can to try and stabilize the Mi'qote. 

Not long after the arrivial of Estinien and Dernar did Noire arrive, Estinien had met her and led her to the Rising Stone. "Where's Valeria? Where is she?" Noire said, panic in her voice. "Don't worry, she's in capable hands. Tataru, I'm taking her to Valeria, don't allow any other guests in until Krile says she's stable." Estinien said, leading Noire to where Valeria rests, magic circles floating around her. A chair had already been set up at the bedside of Valeria, knowing that Noire wouldn't be leaving her lovers side any time soon. She quickly takes a seat, tears still falling as she sees Valeria in the condition she is. Blood splatted over her face, in the process of being cleaned up. Noire takes a hold of Valeria's hand, holding it tight. She just couldn't stop crying, especially since she didn't know what her condition was like. Krile walks back over and sees the new face, and Estinien. "Who's this then?" Krile said, pointing to Noire. Estinien answered, "Her name is Noire, she's Valeria's fiancee. I thought it was fair enough for her to be here." Krile then answered, "Ah. So that's who Noire is. She's been calling your name for a while." She said as she continued examining Valeria, Noire's ears raised a bit, "Don't worry, my love. I'm here now, I'm here." She says to Valeria, hoping to help out in some fashion. 

After an hour of healing, Valeria started to come to, her vision blurred and distorted. She instantly knows that Noire is the one sitting next to her bed, the one holding her hand and crying. She moves her hand to touch Noire's cheek, a shock to Noire as she didn't expect movement this soon. Valeria manages to get some words out, "p-please d-don't c---cry, d-dear...." She said, her hand still on her fiancé's cheek. "i-it hurts m-more to see you cry...." She said, taking a deep breathe. Noire, sniffles and puts her hand on Valeria's which is on her cheek. Valeria manages a weak smile, seeing Noire nod and sniffle. Noire wipes her tears away, and then wipes away the ones that formed on Valeria. 

"i-i love... you" Valeria said, beginning to lose consciousness again. She heard Noire say, "I love you too, my love!" Noire looks down, holding her hand again. "She should be fine now, she just needs rest. Do you want anything to drink?" Krile asked. "N-No, I'm fine. Just leave me here with her." Noire said, moving her chair closer to the bed. "At least you know she's going to be fine, the wound on her back will heal shortly. Don't worry."

After a few examinations, Krile nodded to Noire as Valeria slowly opens her eyes, turning her head to one side to see Noire and then to the other to see Krile. She gave out a weak smile as she put her other hand on Noire's, Noire just gave her a loving smile. "N-noire...." Valeria said, Noire ended up putting a hand on Valeria's cheek, and then moving to rub her on the head. Valeria's breathing hadn't returned to normal, the wound on her back still not healed completely. She smiles more at Noire. "W-where are we?" Valeria said, looking around weakly. "We're at The Rising Stones, Revenants Toll." Noire said softly, looking into her lovers eyes, noticing there was a difference in them... It's like she was still suffering from who she saw... from what she saw. It hurt Noire seeing her lovers beautiful eyes like that, unable to control herself she hugged Valeria hard. "T-the rising stones?" Valeria said weakly, remembering only the name. An array of thoughts are flying through her head, the... emptiness in Aria she saw was... Horrible... "A-aria..." Valeria mumbled, the Viera still around her, Noire had formed a deep hatred for their previous Free Company master. What she has done to the couple that she endorsed is unforgivable, if she had ended up killing her Fiance then... Noire would've tried killing Aria and then resurrecting her to only kill her again and again and again.

A few more hours of waiting, Valeria started to wake up again, Noire was still at her side.   
"V-Val! You're finally awake, I-I'm so happy!" Noire said, smiling loveingly at her fiance. "U-Uh..." Valeria managed to just mumble. Krile turns and nods at Noire and then walks off.

"Valeria, my love. We need to speak." Noire said, Valeria turned her head and nodded, "Y-yes?" Valeria said, her speech still sounding quite bad. "The Alliance Leaders are coming here, they want to hear what happened. Hear about who you saw!"  
Valeria nodded, looking around the room. She was unable to see her katana anywhere, "W-where is my katana?" she turned her head to look at Noire, "They were only able to rescue you. The katana and your other equipment was left behind, your life was more important." Valeria had lost one of the main things her mentor had given her, a replica of his own katana. It was precious to her and now it was in the filthy hands of the Garleans. "W-what about the backups?" she said, looking at her fiance. "Your backup katanas were moved here from the Free Company house, my love. You aren't going to use both are you? You've told me before that..." 

Valeria slowly nodded her head, "I think it's time for me to change. F-For me to go beyond my mentors training. T-the resistance is gone, we've lost." She leaned back in the bed, a tear fell down her eye and then it got rubbed away by Noire.   
"Val my love, you were one of the core members of that Resistance. You haven't been captured, therefore the Resistance lives on." Noire said, smiling at her fiance. Valeria knew she was correct, she turned her head to see Aria's brother Stryder on the bed on her left. He looks more battered and bruised than she did, he looked to her like he was... Half-dead. She knew that whatever happened to him must've been serious. She turns to look at Noire again, "When are the leaders arriving? I-I want to be... ready for their arrival." Noire shook her head, "Sadly my love, I do not know the answer to that. I might be able to ask some of the Scions. But first, what's more important is to get you some food. How about your favourite?~" 

Valeria smiled, nodding towards Noire. "Y-yes please. Some steak does sound nice, and I love how you cook it." Noire made sure to tuck Valeria in a bit better, "Noire's Secret Steak? You sure love that meal, my love." She gave her a kiss on the forehead as she got up and went to find a kitchen to make the meal for Valeria. As Valeria stared at the ceiling, a very weak manifestation of Alastor appeared in the chair next to her bed. A smile on his half-deformed face since he wasn't able to manifest himself fully. "i-it's good to see you're doing fine so far, my friend. I didn't expect this to happen. i-i can't hold this form for long because we put too much power into that attack that... missed." Alastor said, looking at Valeria. "I always knew that... blinding woman would be more trouble than she was worth. Look what she did to--- you." He chuckled a bit, "Thank the Devil that her light had dimmed, I was finally able to see her. She didn't meet my expectations." He looked at his hand, vanishing before him. "I-i don't have much strength left Valeria, but it will be down to you now. I can't protect you until I'm at my full---strength. Good luck my friend, you'd make your mother proud... Y-you're just like her..." After that, his form vanished and he returned to Valeria. She continued looking at where he was sitting, just wondering about everything he said.

A little bit after, Noire brought in some food for her and Valeria to eat. She placed a table over Valeria, placing her plate on it as Noire placed her own plate on her lap. "Eat up my love, I made it just the way you like it.~" Noire said, a loving look on her face. Valeria smiled and proceeded to pick up the cutlery to eat it, "Thanks Noire, I love you so much!" Noire knew already, "I know, and I love you more." Valerias face lit up more as she ate the steak, she loved how her fiance made it. She always wondered how she made it. As she slowly began eating, a flashback appeared in her head, taking her back to the past. A good time of her life...


End file.
